Exploratour: NASA's Exploration for Life

When you think of an ocean, this is what usually comes to mind! As we've said in the discussion of life on Earth, liquid water seems to be important to life. According to the Miller Urey hypothesis, the first life may have been born in the Earth's oceans. However we should not be biased toward the importance of water. Recent discoveries have shown that earliest life may have existed within the rocks themselves!

To read more about life on Earth, the Miller Urey hupothesis, or ancient life in rocks, you may leave this tour and take the tour of Life on Earth, or read the discussion of Miller Urey and Archaea.

You might also be interested in:

Even though the sleeping man is no longer on the bed, you can still see where he was lying down. The heat from his body warmed up the bed sheets which are now radiating infrared light toward your eyes....more

All warm objects (not just people) radiate in the infrared. Warmer objects give off more infrared radiation. Very hot objects radiate other types of light in addition to infrared. Click on the picture...more

Your eye is a wonderful detector of visible light. Different frequencies of light produce different sensations in the eye which we interpret as colors. Our eyes detect light by using light sensitive components...more

Imagine you found a pair of special glasses that not only gave you telescopic vision but gave you the ability to see all forms of radiant energy. The universe in visible light contains all the familiar...more

This is a volcano on the island of Miyake in Japan. It has erupted, sending hot lava and ash into the air, a total of ten times. The time after one eruption until the next occurred was about twenty years...more

This is a picture of a galaxy in visible light. A galaxy is a large number of stars, some like our sun, some bigger, some smaller and all moving together through space. This galaxy is called Centaurus...more

This is a plant in Gary, Indiana where power is made. We use power to run things like television sets, radios, lights, and microwave ovens. The picture looks very strange because it was taken in infrared....more